Football
Jeff Carlisle, U.S. soccer correspondent 7y

MLS clubs have 'no interest' in signing John Terry after Chelsea exit - source

On the day that John Terry announced he will leave Chelsea at the end of the season, an MLS source told ESPN FC that there is "no interest" from the league's teams in acquiring the former England international.

Terry, 36, is in his 22nd year with the Blues, but he has played little this season, making just 10 league and cup appearances. He will depart with his status as a club legend intact, however. Terry has made 713 appearances for Chelsea, captaining the club 578 times, and has won 14 major trophies.

Terry has stated that he intends to keep playing, and he's been linked periodically with MLS teams, including a year ago when it looked like his career with Chelsea would come to an end.

At the time, an MLS source indicated that none of the league's teams were willing to meet Terry's salary demands, which would have made him a designated player. MLS clubs are allotted three DPs, the bulk of whose salaries do not count against their league-mandated salary budgets.

It now appears as though the position of MLS and its teams has not changed with regards to Terry.

Terry's former England teammates Steven Gerrard, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard have moved to MLS clubs near the end of their careers, and the league has been linked with other aging players in their mid-30s, like Manchester United forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

However, the trend in MLS has largely been moving towards bringing in younger, dynamic attacking players to fill the designated player slots. Of 17 players who became DPs since the end of last season, only LA's Jelle Van Damme and Chicago's Bastian Schweinsteiger were over 30.

West Brom boss Tony Pulis last month expressed an interest in signing Terry, while Bournemouth could also be an option after a mooted loan move fell through in January.

The defender was linked last year with a move to China, where his former managers Luiz Felipe Scolari and Sven-Goran Eriksson are coaching.

In the United Arab Emirates, Terry's former teammate Dan Petrescu is managing Al Nasr and the Romanian suggested recently he would be keen to make his friend an offer.

^ Back to Top ^